A Silver Prince
by Shmeeko
Summary: Fresh blood, hail! I've got chapters! YAY, DARNIT. 'A boy is being targeted by the dark ones, a reason is unknown. Upon catastrophe, three travellers take him under thier wing, teaching him everything he need to know. But secrets are being kept from h
1. Prolouge to A Silver Prince

**'Lo there, fellow Oblivion fans. This is a story I've just recently come up with upon pondering something to get rid of my Writer's block issue. I rather like it, but then again, It's your choice as to wether or not it's good. Oh well, I usppose the critics value fresh blood anyhow. I know the ending is rushed, so leave me be, and I will try to come with an update every saturday. Note the try, so don't be surprised if there isn't a chapter one day, I have a life to attend to. In the mean time, enjoy!**

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"Time for bead, Carter!" 

"Aw mom, can't I stay up a bit longer?" I pushed my bangs out of my face and looked up at my mom, towering over me as I played tug-of-war with my dog, Jason. My mother was a beautiful girl. She had short, windblown hair and deep green eyes, like mine. She was slim and curvy. Many a man had asked for my mom's hand in marriage, but she turned them all down. My father was a former knight of Kvatch, a town at the top of a large hill. He was a great knight, but one day a portal to the demon world, oblivion, opened at the city gates and things of fire spilled out. The knights and my father fought bravely for Kvatch, but my father fell at the hand of a little impish creature, with claws and teeth that tore through my father's armor. It was because of my father's bravery that my mother refused to re-marry.

"Carter, you know what happens to boys who stay up past their bed-times." My mom said a sly smile on her face as she placed both hands on her hips. I smiled innocently up at her. She'd told me so many times about Wraiths, ghostly beings that were draped in black cloth with many, many teeth. She claimed that whenever a child was up past their bedtimes, they'd scream as loud as they can and hunt the child down. But she knew I didn't believe that story, for I'd been up reading to and with her past my usual bedtime plenty of times. I'm still alive, aren't I?

My name is Carter Bleddri Draco. I was named after my father, Bleddri Macheon Draco. People say I've the build of my father, but the fair looks of my mother. I have deep green eyes and shaggy brown hair. I'm average size for my age, 12 but I have to admit, I'm a lot stronger than any of the other kids at school. I'm the best swordsman too, if I do say so myself. It was for these reasons that I believed I should be allowed to stay up later. It's only fair!

"Yeah, yeah. The wraiths come and take them away." I said, and my mother laughed brightly, for she knew she had won. I rushed down the hallway, Jason bounding along at my side and leapt into bed. "Come on mom!" I called. I hid under the covers for a while, but I heard no sign of my mom having moved at all. Jason, who was curled up beside me, whimpered. "What's the matter, boy?" I said to him sympathetically, He squirmed backwards out from under my covers. I sat up and threw my legs over the bed as Jason creeped towards the door. I heard a loud bang come from the front hall. Jason backed away from the door and wove around my legs. I rested my hand on his head and crept forward, he kept pace with me. From my door, I could see nothing but the varnished wood floor and a bit of the living room, where my mom was last. If I wanted to see what was wrong, I'd have to move further up the hallway to peek around the corner. With Jason by my side, I creeped up to the corner of the hallway, where the hall opened up into the living room. My mom was on the floor, her hair covering her face, she wasn't moving. Jason pressed up to me instantly, sensing the cold lump that had gripped my heart when I saw that. He nudged me again and I forced myself to look around. Standing above here, well, floating, were three odd creatures that fitted my mom's previous description of a wraith perfectly. It was simply a black rag from the bust down, faded at the tips. Their black rags had hoods pulled up over their heads, where only their pale, sunken red eyes and cheekbones could be seen, and their arms were just as pale, with long bony fingers and long yellow nails. They were indeed ghosts, and their prescience chilled me so. They lifted their heads and screamed loudly, high pitched but far from girly. More like chilling. One of them leaned over my mother and opened her mouth with two of its bony fingers. It leaned over her and put a palm over her mouth, then slowly lifted its hand from her face. A long, shimmering silver line was being pulled out from her mouth, and the farther the Wraith's hand got from her body, the paler she went. I felt Jason tense beside me, and I had to stop myself from rushing out to help her. I couldn't take them. I began to cry silently as the Wraith moved its hand away from my mom's body and the silver line of her spirit became a luminous silver orb. Suddenly, the door was burst open, and a hooded man dressed in black armor stomped over to my mom.

"No!" He hollered and the Wraith paused as the other two backed away. "No souls are to be taken tonight!" He yelled. Any hope I had from then vanished. For a split second, when the man had come through the door, I thought maybe he was here to help me, but no, he seemed to be in charge of this whole thing. He withdrew a long sword, its hilt was pointed and the metal was black. He flipped it around in his hand, and for a moment, I believe he was going to swipe at the Wraith, but no. He grabbed the sword with his second hand and thrust it down into my mother's stomach. If she wasn't dead before, she was now as the hardwood floor under her began to turn a reddish hue. I couldn't help it. I burst into tears and a cry of sorrow escaped my lips. The Wraiths looked up, but didn't move. For a moment I thought they didn't see me. But the man slowly lifted his gaze to grin devilishly at me. The last thing I saw before I turned around and sprinted back into my room was his blood red eyes that followed me down the hall. I slammed the door behind me just as Jason slipped in. I grabbed him by the collar and dragged him over to the corner of my room, where I scrunched up as tight as I could, holding Jason close to me and sobbing quietly

"She'd dead, Jay, dead!" I whispered, staring fearfully at the door. It was silent for a while until the black silhouette of a Wraith appeared at my door. A second came after it, followed by a third. I didn't move as they surrounded me, breathing loudly. I closed my eyes tightly as they all screamed in unison. But I couldn't help but to squint through one, they Wraiths pressed closer towards me, and an unnatural chilling settled over me. I was about to turn away when my window shattered and an arrow flew through and buried itself in the middle Wraith's head. It froze for a moment and then vanished in a puff of smoke. Its companions shrieked loudly and whirled as a large knight in gold and black armor kicked down my door and rushed at the nearest Wraith, bringing his blade down on the Wraith, as his blade passed through, the creature vanished. The third burst into flames shortly afterwards and a slightly less bulky man stepped from the shadows, and a woman leapt through the window, a bow in her hand, her hair flying behind her. The three warriors assembled, their backs facing me. Footsteps echoed down the hallway as the black armored man stepped through, wiping the blood off his sword with a kitchen rag. He stopped at the sight of the three. Then broke out in a grin.

"That wouldn't be Laresh under that helmet, would it?" He asked, the warrior rushed at the man, and the two engaged in a fight where sparks flew.

"Phoenix, look out!" The smaller man cried suddenly, and a Wraith behind the girl suddenly burst into flames. The girl lifted her bow and fired an arrow at the man. He didn't even flinch as the arrow soared right by his cheek and sunk into the Wraith that had appeared there suddenly

"Likewise!" The girl cried, Jason whimpered beside me, and a wraith dropped down from above me and into me, sending a chilling feeling into my body as consciousness slipped away from me.

**Once again, Don't flame me for the abrupt ending, it wasn't intentionally that way, beleive me. Well, your opinions will be heard and taken into consideration, thanks fer reading!**

**Toodles Y'all**

**Shmeeko**


	2. Simple Introductions

**'Lo again, readers who refuse to review. Sheesh, and they call me lazy. Anyway, thanks to the person who did reveiw it's much appreciated. Anyway, not much of a happening thing in this chapter, you're just going to get to know four out of the five main characters in the story. Yes, Four. Anyway, Tell me what you think, I did spend a bit more time on this

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When I awoke some time after, I found myself staring at a canopy of trees. Sunlight was filtering down and the sudden glimpse at light made my eyes sore, so to avoid further pain, I closed them. As I waited for that awkward burning sensation in my eyes to stop, I began to be able to make out voices. They were talking. What about, my senses where not returned enough to discover. I stayed on the ground as my senses began to pick up again, but I did not open my eyes. I felt something wet touch into my cheek, and a whimper sounded very close to my right ear. When I realized it was Jason, I felt relieved to find out he was still alive.

"I swear, if that beast doesn't shut up…" A voice broke into my trail of thoughts. It sounded as if it belonged to a man in his middle-ages. I strained to hear more, but found I didn't need to. My captors, or saviors, I wasn't quite sure yet, were rather close to me and I could pick up every word they were saying.

"Oh hush, Laresh. It's not doing any harm" This voice was feminine, and I remembered the archer. Perhaps they were indeed my saviors? I stirred, hoping they'd notice, so I wouldn't have such an awkward awakening.

"Doesn't matter now, he's waking up." A third voice, slightly higher pitched but still relatively deep. I heard boots crunch against dead leaves as someone headed my way and knelt beside me.

"Morning, sleepy head!" It was the girl's voice again, and I allowed myself to open my eyes slightly. The light that had pained me before was now blocked slightly by a young girl, likely to have only been in her early twenties, smiled down on me. She had short brown hair that was cut at her shoulders; one brain on her left side was tucked behind her ear. When she saw my eyes open, her smile brightened. I pushed myself into a sitting position and looked inquiringly at the girl, before I cast my gaze to her companions.

One of them had a build that was either very muscular, or simply hidden under large armor. It occurred to me that I was staring at the same Ebony and Gold knight that had shown up to my rescue that night. It looked like a pattern one of my father's friends use to wear, _Dwarven Armor,_ he called it. Over the knights head was a black helmet that covered his skull and his neck, and part of it covered the bridge of his nose. Many of my father's comrades had worn helmets like this, only they had their kingdom's heirloom on it. His hand was resting on a sword I knew well, my friend's father was a blacksmith that specialized in the Ebony Longsword, being the blade in question. A matching Dwarven shield lay on the log beside him on which he sat.

Lest few paces away, stood a slightly shorter, thinner man that could not have been much older than the girl. He wore a white blouse-like top under a black leather vest, topped with black pants, rims tucked into black boots. A thin shortsword was belted to his side, but light blue markings danced across his cheeks and what little of his hand showed. This told me he was a magic user; my mother told me that those markings usually symbolized an experienced magician.

The girl who sat beside me had a bow and quiver of arrows strapped to her back. She was adorned in a white blouse with a brown vest and brown shorts, large leather boots covering her feet, and black fingerless gloves enwrapped her hands. She was the archer that had rather boldly flown through the window into my room. Everything was piecing together now.

I noticed I was surrounded by trees; I was located in a forest of some sort. My saviors, as I'd decided to label them, had made a small camp in a place where there'd been some sort of bad lightning storm. There were several fallen trees; the knight was sitting on one. Smoke billowed from a ring of stones, where burnt wood lay there. Jason was lying beside me, taking up most of the cloth I'd been laying on. After a moment or two, I finally found words to voice my question.

"Umm…Where are we?" I looked around as if to make a statement that I had no clue whatsoever as to our location, I didn't. No one seemed all that obliged to answer me, at least, no one being the knight. He turned away and poked at the smoking logs with a broken tree branch. The mage sat himself on a long rather close to my makeshift bed.

"We're but a day's walk away from Bruma, in the Heartlands." He told me, lifting a hand to gesture to the woods around us. The Heartlands? I had lived closer to Chorrol, in the Great woods. How they'd managed to get me so far was beyond me. Perhaps they'd used some sort of magic? That must've been it. I removed the cloth that was acting as a blanket for me before. I was still in my pajamas. The girl saw my puzzled look and decided to spark a conversation to take my mind off of it.

"I am Called Phoenix, my real name is Phoebe Mitchells, but I'd prefer if you called me Phoenix anyway" She said, lifting her eyebrows to show slight embarrassment. The mage waved a hand in somewhat of a greeting.

"My name is Dro'Gaindon" He said formally, bowing slightly to me. It was an Orcish name, but he was not an Orc, he looked more like a Breton to me, but I did not know much of the races. He continued "My friends call me Gain." This must've been a sign of friendship, or at least sympathy and future kindness. I found that I'd begun to like the man already. The third man, the Knight, did not answer. When my companions discovered he didn't plan on giving one, Phoenix did for him.

"He is called Laresh," But she said no more. I occurred to me that this Knight may have been a noble warrior, but he had a cold heart. He lifted his head and looked directly at me. He stared at me for a while with his cold blue eyes, as if he was intending to say something, but he did not. Phoenix shook her head, then looked at me again

"What's your name?" She asked. I tilted my head to one side then burst out with my story. I told her my name and all about my father, my mother and how I witnessed her die. In return, she and Gain gave me sympathetic glances, but the Knight only flicked his gaze to me when I'd brought up my father in my story. When I'd finished my tale, they began to tell me about themselves.

Phoenix was an Imperial archer, trained by the fighter's guild; her parents were in Leyawiin, where she'd grown up. She was only a young girl when a boy a little older than her had come through town after hunting. She was curious about him and spied on him, for she was also proving to be a talented thief. She watched him night after night. She eventually learned of his plan to continue out of Leyawiin, traveling off to Imperial city. Phoebe had longed to go there, so she convinced the boy to take her with him. She'd been friends with him since, and had grown even closer to him after they'd left Leyawiin and met up with Gain.

Gain had lived in the forest for as long as he could recall. He'd been abandoned by his parents when he was born, for they wished to have a girl. When their wish was not granted, they left him out in the woods to die. An Orsimer family had raised him in their home in the heart of The Nebonoy Valley. He'd grown up with them and learned to love them as his own parents. They gave him an Orcish name and raised him as their own. He longed to travel though, and his foster parents knew this, but they had a family and could not take their adopted son beyond the hills. When Phoenix and the boy had passed through there, having gotten lost, he'd offered to take them back to the trail if they took him with them. Of course, they agreed.

I found out then that the boy had been Laresh, but he was now a grown man. I began to wonder, what had changed him so much? The way his friends had spoken of him, he seemed a lot more cheerful and friendly. But maybe that was the person they saw him as? He was their leader and their friend, after all. I looked at Laresh inquiringly; I wanted to know more about him. He suddenly stood up and strode over to me, towering over me for a moment and then turned to Gain and Phoenix. He spoke as if I wasn't there

"Get him a pair of boots, we're heading to Bruma." He said and Jason stirred. In the trading of stories, I'd almost forgotten about him. I stroked his fur, and then suddenly remembered what the knight thought of my friend.

"Can Jason come too?" I asked, Phoenix looked at me, frowning slightly and shrugged, then turned to glance at Laresh, he said nothing, but simply began to pack up the camp they'd made. Phoenix turned to smile at me and nod. I hugged Jason tightly as Gain brought me a pair of leather boots

"We'll get you clothes when we arrive at Bruma." He told me. I nodded and fit the boots over my feet, then pushed myself up.

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An hour later, we were treading up the path into the mountains where Bruma was located. Phoenix was telling me about Bruma, its temperature, the guilds and the shops. I found that aside from Laresh, I was beginning to like our little traveling troupe. Gain was kind and helpful, Phoenix was kind as well, but she was more of a friend. Both of them were careful to stay off the subject of why the Wraiths attacked my house, who that man was and why they attacked me. One question I'd asked them was why they came to my rescue, but nobody answered. As we climbed, I found myself getting colder. I willed us faster, but Laresh set a pace that was steady, but didn't wear anyone down.

When my teeth began to chatter and the greenery was covered with frost, Laresh flicked his gaze towards me and began to walk faster. For a while, I was grateful for the change of pace, but then I began to feel worn out and tired. Jason, who had been keeping pace with me and refusing to leave my side, whimpered every once in a while. When we slowed down, I was relieved. Phoenix began to talk to me in a low voice, I began to feel sleepy. It dawned upon me that I was dragging the group behind. We were going slower because I couldn't keep the pace. Either Laresh was hiding his anger, or he didn't care. He simply kept his gaze fixed ahead of him, and I never saw more than the back of his helmet. I'd fallen silent after a while, and Phoenix and Gain were talking quietly behind me. Laresh was in front of me, his pace steady. I took a breath in a jogged forward, holding my arms out of the sheer cold. I didn't stop jogging until I was walking beside him. For a while, he said nothing and simply allowed me attempt to keep his pace.

We traveled for another few hours; I forced myself to keep a steady and grimly silent pace with the knight. But he scarcely spared me a glance, let alone a word. I decided to speak instead.

"Uhh…" This was awkward; I didn't know how to start talking to him. He was a knight of apparent strength of respect that had just gone up against some sort of Dark lord to save my hide from his hands. I should've at least had something to say. "Thank you…" I began, finally finding something to say after a moment of stuttering "…For saving me…Before I mean," I blushed heavily, but my face was red from the cold anyway, I'm not sure if he would've noticed. He was silent for another minute or so. I began to tell myself he simply did not feel like talking when he took a breath in to speak.

"You're welcome." He said nothing more than those two words, but at least he'd said something to me. I smiled at him, but he was still staring ahead. I slowed down and allowed him to take the lead and once again resumed my place in the center of the troupe. As I rubbed my hands up and down my arms for warmth and marveled at the white mist that appeared in front of me whenever I breathed out, I couldn't help but to wonder about the Knight. His friends refused to say much about him, he didn't even say anything about himself. I stared at his back as if I could see through the armor and into his personality. This was a false hope, of course, but it was fun to think about what I could do if I could see into people's souls.

It puzzled me about my newfound companions. The Mage and Archer were friendly and open about their past and opinions, but the Knight was quiet and said little. His friends said little about him or his history. But as I reflected my situation, I recalled how much this was alike to the story book adventures my mom used to read to me before bed. An adventure, I liked the sound of that. I set forward and strode at a much faster pace, eager to get to Bruma and get into warmer clothes. I wanted to become a Knight suddenly, and my newfound dream was definitely not going to become reality in my Pajamas!

**And then there was silence...So how'd you like it? Good, huh? huh? Yeah. Well, even if you didn't like it, thanks for reading it. Please review, just say Bladsjghsdjghdas or something, or type something out like a sane person, your choice.**

**Toodles,**

**Shmeeko**

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	3. Bruma

**Hello again faithful people who like reading. How are you this fine Sunday? Presuming it is a sunday where you are. It is for me D This chapter kind of feel ehh-ishto me. It could've been better on my behalf, I think .o. OH well, you tell me with reviews, after you've read it, silly.**

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Bruma was nothing like I expected it to be. I thought Bruma was going to be a small village in the mountains. But it wasn't until I lay eyes upon the beginnings of a castle on the horizon that I realized my theory was sorely incorrect. By the time Jason and I made it to the gates, I was shivering. One of the guards looked at me sympathetically and patted my head. He reached into his cuirass and pulled out a brown sack that chimed when it moved.

"Get yourself some clothes, son. Bruma is no place for fine materials." He held out the bag for me to take but suddenly Laresh was behind me. The guard looked up at the knight then stood tall and erect. "Good day, sir" He said, bringing his hand up in a salute to the knight "To what does Bruma owe for this unexpected visit?" The knight flicked a gaze to the guard. I looked up at Laresh as he spoke

"There is no need to supply to boy with gold, he is under our care. And as for my visit, I am simply here to pick up what I dropped off my previous visit" His voice gave away no emotion. The guard nodded and tucked away the brown sack into his chest plate

"Yes, sir. If I am not mistaken, the Countess herself was holding on to your package to ensure its absolute safety. We understand that such a treasure can not be obtained in this land, and treat it so." The guard was flustered and it dawned on me that Bruma was a town in which Laresh was well renowned. But it became apparent to me that we had made our way to Bruma not just for supplies, but for some sort of treasure that Laresh had entrusted to the town. I grew more and more eager to become a knight now, and furthermore, interested in what Bruma could call so precious to be 'not of this world.' The guard waved a hand into the air and another armored man leaned over the side of the wall that towered well over our heads. After a few seconds, the gate opened and the path was cleared for us.

We trudged into Bruma as Laresh lead on. I looked around me, fascinated by the wood houses that lined either side of the street. It was a quiet city, but still rather large in size. I marveled at the quiet business of the city as we trekked through. Jason lifted his nose and I heard him inhale the scents of the mountain. Gain and Phoenix were behind us, smiling at our reaction. Laresh stopped towards the side of the road and I jogged to catch up, tailed by Gain and Phoenix. Laresh turned to face us, hesitating before giving us our 'orders'.

"Phoenix, you can take the boy and get him some proper clothes and appropriate armor, and then Gain will meet him at the Fighter's guild to see if they can arm him for a proper price, mention my name and expect low prices. Then when you're done, you will meet me at the castle in two hours." He said, when he received no reply, he reached into a leather bag and pulled out a significantly large bag of gold, which he handed to Phoenix. She stashed it between her bosom and grinned at me when I gave her a questioning stare. Laresh continued as if this hadn't happened at all. "Split it between you and Gain, spend it on the boy, the rest is yours." As he turned to head towards the castle, I stared questioningly at his back, presuming it would provide answers for me, it did not. Where did he get this kind of money? What on earth was so important that he left in the care of the castle residents? I shook my head to clear them of my questions, taking in for the first time that Gain was already heading down the street. Phoenix was staring at me with a mischievous grin, hands on her hips.

"Come on, space cadet." She said cheerily, and then she set off for a side road on the main street. I followed after her and once again acknowledged the cold that was nipping at my limbs. I began to walk faster to catch up. The imperial turned into a wooden building that had a sign hanging over it. Amidst the frost, I could not make out the sign label, but I followed the archer inside anyway. Inside was a large, jolly looking man covered in ash standing happily behind a counter, looking winded but cheery none the less. Phoenix removed the bag from her bosom and placed it on the counter. She then childishly placed her elbows on the counter and looked up at the man like a girl at a candy store "Hi Robert!" she said cheerily, the man smiled and began to wonder towards the back of his shop

"'Lo thar Phoebe Mitchelles, How're ye this fianne day?" He crowed. His accent was funny to me, but he seemed friendly enough. I looked to Phoenix as she straightened up and spoke again

"We're looking for some clothes and armor for Carter here; He'll be traveling with us for a while." The man peered down at me, eying my size and letting out a concentrated grunt.

"Aye, Phoebe, Ye do know that armor his size is heftily priced, right?" He said, stepping out from behind his counter to get a better look at me "They don' make armor a boy's size anymo'" He pointed out. Phoebe sighed and moved the bag slightly with one finger.

"I know, I know. But it's on Laresh's order." The girl eyed the shopkeeper in a slightly authorative way, and the man straightened instantly.

"Aye? Well then, in that case, I suppose I can give ye all a discount, but I'd like to see something from yer, first." Phoebe smiled instantly as if she knew what the man was talking about.

"Bring it on!" She said. The man shuffled to the back door of his shop and pushed it open with a beefy hand. From where I was standing, I could see leather and cloth lined up on the walls, but at the very back of the little store house, I could make out the white and red circle of a target. Did he expect Phoenix to hit that? It was so far! I looked at Phoenix ironically. She already had an arrow in hand and her bow well prepared.

"You can't be serious!" I blurted out. The man had returned to the counter and chuckled.

"I can, and I am. A'ight, Phoebe, you hit that thar target back thar, and I'll give ye a fifteh percentage discount!" He declared. Phoebe grinned and nodded, causing me to gape at them both. This must be some sort of joke. She couldn't possibly hit that target! It was then that I remembered how Phoenix had trained with the fighter's guild as an archer, and suddenly the target didn't seem so far.

Phoenix pulled back the bow string and hitched her arrow. There was a slight pause as she steadied her aim and the storekeeper moved well away from the door. There was a slight breeze as the archer let go of the bow string and the arrow flew into the back room. The arrow came to an abrupt stop in the center of the target, lodged at a slight angle. The shopkeeper grinned, grabbed my wrist and guided me around to the back of the counter. "Come on, ye two, we 'ought to get yer fitted." Phoebe hopped over the counter and followed us into the back room to retrieve her arrow.

"Fit him in something of Iron." She said as she walked by us to the back. The archer was tucking her bow back into place on her back as she walked. The shopkeeper chuckled

"Fer that performance, Miss Mitchelles, I'll fit 'im in somethin' of Steel, fer the same price." He said, the man suddenly looked for more jolly now that I knew of his generosity. He shuffled in the racks of clothing and pulled out a simple pair of soft black greaves and a white shirt. "Fit into these, boy, and we'll find ye some armor." He told me as he turned into another room that was attached to this one. I glanced around and paused for a moment. It was the cold that jolted me into action as I pulled of my pajamas and fitting into these clothing. They were light and let the cold through. Surely he must have heavier clothes coming, or I wouldn't survive in this weather.

There was a shard of glass propped up against the wall to act as a mirror. I intended to bring myself over there to witness my new attire, but the man emerged again with what looked like a hunk of metal into his hands. He set it down on the floor and looked at me.

"Thar, that 'aint so bad is it?" He asked with another chuckle. I shook my head as he picked up the shining hunk of metal. "This is what you'll be wearin' overtop of yer chain mail." He crowed. He set the piece down again and picked up a chain mail sweater. He walked over to me and held it up. I instinctively held up my hands and he fit it over my head. It was slightly big, but not by much. It added a bit of weight, but nothing I couldn't handle. He turned around swiftly as I rolled my shoulders to help me get comfortable in my new clothing. Robert turned around again and handed me the same material greaves, beaming. "Come on son, I don' have forever."

The greaves fit better than the top, they were rather tight and gripped around my thighs and calves. But I felt warmer and well protected now. Lastly, the round man lifted the cuirass. Excitement bubbled up inside me. He was holding my very own armor! He suddenly slipped the cuirass over my head and I twisted and wiggled to get my arms through "Quit squirming boy!"

When I stepped out from the shop, the cold didn't seize me as it had before. The man had also fit me with some steel boots. Although they were a size too large and clunked when I walked, I couldn't help but to feel proud about my new attire. Phoenix called a farewell to the man in the store and shut the door behind her.

"Come on, Carter, We'll get you to Gain and find you a weapon." She grabbed my wrist, which I proudly mention was covered by gauntlets as well, and pulled me behind her as we shuffled through the streets.

Gain was awaiting us outside another frost-covered building; one hand was resting quite calmly on the hilt of his blade. He noted my new armor, grinned at me and with his free hand flashed a 'thumbs up'. Phoenix threw the remainders of the gold to him, and pushed me towards the mage "I'm off to do some hunting before I meet you all later." She said, and she turned into an alley without another word. I watched the archer go then turned expectantly to Gain, who was walking up the steps of the frigid building we'd met him at.

"Come on." He said, waving a hand in my direction as he held the door open. I skipped a step and hopped up to Gain's side. Pausing upon entering, Gain closed the door behind us and stepped over to the shopkeeper, a fairly built man with slanted eyes. His shop seemed far more dreary than Robert's It had one window, which the curtains were drawn over and candles were lit around the counter in the center of the room. The shopkeeper flashed his gaze to Gain, surveying him before speaking.

"Can I help you? You don't look like you're from around here" He said, he had a deep, commanding voice. Such a voice made me feel small. Gain however, did not seem phased

"You can, actually. We're looking for a light steel shortsword, not too heavily crafted, but won't shatter in a fight." Gain set the gold on the counter, keeping his eyes fixed on the shopkeeper as the man eyed the bag.

"I'll check to see if we have such a weapon." He said, turning around and vanishing into another room located somewhere around the corner. I took the time to look around to the room. The shop wasn't too big, and the front room was actually quite small. I supposed that the shopkeeper lived upstairs or in back somewhere, or just didn't live here. Gain's fingers rapped against the hardwood of the counter as he waited

"Nice armor." He said suddenly, smiling at me. I wondered why Gain didn't use heavy armor. He didn't look very well protected, compared to Laresh or even Phoenix; she at least had some armor on, even if she wasn't wearing a heavy metal.

"Why don't you have any?" The mage laughed and shook his head, making a few potent gestures with his hands before speaking again.

"I can do magic, If I need to, I can simply use a magical shield to protect me." He said, his voice still bubbling with a slight chuckle. He motioned for me to be quiet as the man came back around the corner with a blade still lodged in its sheath. The shopkeeper grinned unkindly at Gain, pausing for another moment before speaking up.

"Such a sword you seek is hard to come by, but we have one. It's costly though" He said gruffly. I looked up at Gain and saw something flicker in his eyes before he spoke again.

"Name it."

"Two-thousand-twenty-one gold." The shopkeeper said smugly. He lifted the bag and shook it slightly. The gold inside it tinkled. He looked at Gain again and shook his head. "I'm guessing you're about a thousand short." He said. I looked up at Gain, only to find him grinning again. I guessed that the price the Shopkeeper had named for us was no the real price at all. The magician wiped the grin off his face and sighed.

"You're right, what a shame." He said, casting his eyes downward as if in defeat. I simply stood at the counter while the magician walked away. The shopkeeper glared at me.

"Well, git!" He snapped at me. I stumbled backwards and stuck my tounge out at him childishly, then spun on the spot to trail after Gain. To my surprise, the mage turned and held out a hand. Green light streamed from his fingers and enwrapped the shopkeeper in an eerie green glow. The shopkeeper blinked once or twice and shook his head as if to clear the thoughts that may have clouded his brain. Gain turned around and pointed to the sword in the sheath.

"How much is that again?" He questioned lightly, a smirk was settling on his face. The shopkeeper blinked, he seemed entirely different

"Uh-Uh, 1000 gold, I'm sorry for the high price, but I do have to make a living." He told the mage humbly. Maybe Gain had brainwashed him? No, the shopkeeper may have not even known where he was if the wizard had. Gain shrugged

"I can pay that for sure." He said with a warm smile, and he pushed the bag of gold towards the shopkeeper once more. "Keep the change" This time, the Shopkeeper picked it up and stuffed it into a pocket. He then attached a strap to the Sheath of the sword and handed it to the mage. Gain smiled and thanked the man and began to walk out of the shop. I watched the shopkeeper for another little while as Gain turned around, and found that the Green glow was fading. The shopkeeper shook his head again and blinked, then turned his gaze to me and glared

"I thought I told you to scat!" He hollered, and I turned on the ball of my heel and scooted for the door. Outside, Gain was waiting for me with an amused smile on his face.

"What did you do?" I asked, amazed. The magician had done something to the shopkeeper's personality and I was determined to find out

"It was nothing, actually, a simple spell to make people more…agreeable." He said. I looked at him in a slightly puzzled manner and he continued "It just makes them look at you with more respect, like they see you as someone important. You should see what Phoenix can do. She can make people think she's emperor, once per day." He told me, shaking his head. He began to lead the way down the snow-covered road towards the castle at the head of the town.

"Can you teach me?" I asked. Gain looked at me in a puzzled manner

"Teach you what?

"The Emperor thing."

"No"

"Awww why?" I whined. I didn't mean to whine at first, but to have such a potential power taken out from under my nose is kind of daunting.

"Because that's a power she has in being an imperial. But I can show you how to manipulate someone's respect, just not right now." This lightened my spirits some.

We met up with Phoenix after having a minor race to the top of the steps. I slipped on one, so undoubtedly, I lost. We were led into the castle by a bulky guard who had been rather lazily sitting on the ridge of the wall by the front gate. Upon seeing us, he straightened himself out immediately and opened the gate. The castle was dark and uncomfortably quiet. Though guards did line the side of the carpet, some were chatting amongst themselves. When we passed them, they fell silent and cast us nervous glances. I dimly wondered what they could have been so restless about. Maybe Laresh's package had something to do with it? It must have. Bruma didn't seem like the town to see much commotion. A guard who had been rather relaxed whilst talking with his mate spotted us and hurried to open the next set of freakishly large doors to permit us entrance to the throne room. When I stepped into the room, my heart skipped a beat. The room was finely decorated beyond anything I'd seen before, but that was not the reason. Hunched down in the middle of the room was a dark figure, obscured in black armor engraved with luminous red lines, I could not see the things head for it was covered in a black helmet, a red feather weaving from the top. I had the sudden memory of the man who had killed my mother, that horrible night when the Wraiths had attack. I took a breath in and held onto the memory, channeling it through to my sword and sparking the energy to tear it from its sheath. Raising the blade I gripped it with two hands and charged at the warrior, bringing the sword back as I ran, finding myself suddenly unbothered by my new armor. If this was the very same man that had done away with my mother, he would not leave unscathed, even if I died in the process.

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**Badadadum. Pray tell, why is an eil warrior thing in the middle of an empty throne room just kind of like...sitting there. And why on earth would Carter do such a silly thing as to like, PHRAAWR and attempt to kill it. durr. We shall find out. Eventually. So like, review again, It could just be like blargishnargiblarg, or you could acually reveiw?**

**Toodles for now.**

**Shmeeko**


	4. Castle Bruma Day 1

**OH MAN. That was rather large text .-. Oh well. I'm So sorry for the late update, long story short, My computer had to be rebooted and arg. Not fun D Not much happens in this chapter. Some of your questions may be answered in this chapter, and if you're a real thinker-aheader, you'll be able to figure out the connection between the whole thing. Lemme know if you think you've got it D Pharhar.**

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It was within the last few moments of my blind and mad dash of attempted heroism that I realized how stupid I was. The man I was in mid-process of attacking could very well be a guest of the castle, or a far more experienced knight. Or, like I suspected, it could've been the very same dark lord that had attacked my mother. But of course, I was far too stupid to stop myself, so I simply swung the blade horizontally with all my might at the armored figure, only to have it whirl around and parry with his own blade. The blade itself claimed my attention for a good while. It was a large, two-handed sword, though the man in question only had to hold off my swing with one, the hilt was as black as the gnarled blade, imprinted with the very same red markings as the man's armor. Upon matching the markings on the blade to the armor, I once again pondered the identity of the man. He had a fair build, and upon looking at his face, I could seldom see icy blue eyes looked down at me with a slightly amused shine. I knew those eyes, not very well of course, but I knew them. The knight gave a good push with his blade and I stumbled backwards, throwing my arms out behind me to try to steady myself, but I only unbalanced myself further. I was caught by the steady hands of Gain as he slipped behind me. He pushed me back to my feet and the knight sheathed his sword. It was Laresh, of course. The armor must've been the 'Otherworldly Package' he'd entrusted to Bruma. It certainly looked Otherworldly to me.

"It seems the boy has found him armor." The knight said in his usual brisk and cold voice. It seemed to me that he was never actually directly talking to me. I was always 'The boy' to him. Did he even know my name?

"Yeah, umm…Nice armor?" Phoenix said, scratching the back of her head and poking the knight's cuirass with a finger. The knight lifted a hand and pushed the archer away, then turned his back to the trio

"We will be traveling Just West of here, a merchant has reported seeing something like an Oblivion Portal." Laresh said coldly, he seemed about to say more, but Phoenix quickly interrupted.

"Carter isn't coming, right?!" She said, sort of commandingly. I felt a sudden tug of disappointment inside me. I wanted to travel with them, I wanted to go to Oblivion. I'd heard plenty of stories about the demon world, but I've never got the chance to come within a mile of a portal. I knew the archer was simply being protective, but I longed to go anyway. I looked hopefully to Laresh, but his face, as always, gave away nothing.

"No." He said, quite briskly, almost without pause. "It is dangerous and Aaron will be looking for him. I won't risk it." Okay, two things. Who was Aaron? The extra question merely added on more frustration, I couldn't go with them? Was I just to be left here?

"But I want to go!" I said suddenly, without intending it I may add, I was slightly tense and my outburst came in a squeak. Laresh said nothing, but turned his cold gaze to me. I felt at a sudden loss for words. "I…I…" Phoenix made a cut sign with her hand to her throat, she was trying to tell me to shut up before I hurt myself or something. This only made me more determined to suddenly prove myself "I want to go with you to Oblivion, I know I'm not much of a fighter, or a Mage, or an Archer for that matter, but I can learn!" I said desperately, trying to find some sort of fact I could use to aid me in my plea "I don't want to be left in a stuffy little town in the cold, I could find someone in the castle -maybe one of the knights- to teach me, I could learn to fight or something, but don't leave me behind!" It was pathetic, in my view, as I look back on it. I could've mentioned that 'Aaron' as Laresh had said, could've come looking for me unprotected in the castle, or even that they'd gone through a lot to try and save me from that dark lord and his minions, and that they were suddenly going to leave. But then, none of those ideas occurred to me. Laresh simply gazed at me and Phoenix had given up trying to get me to shut it. There was a moment of silence followed by a comment from Gain.

"The Knights are always looking for new students, he would be welcomed" For a moment, I thought he was against me on this too, but what he said next changed my views. "Even if it is only for a short while, within three days they can instruct a boy how to fight like a man." Gain seemed rather confident about this, and I realized weather he agreed with it himself or not, he was trying to also convince Laresh to let me come. Thankfully, the knight gave in.

"We will stay one week, no more and no less. If he cannot pass their final test by then, we shall leave without him." With that, the knight turned and walked briskly past us and out the door. Phoenix gave him a dirty look for giving into my pleas, but shook her head good humouredly and once again turned her attention to my needs.

"We might as well get you up to your room, It'll be bedtime soon and your training will start bright and early tomorrow. I'll arrange everything concerning your lessons, Gain can take you up to the guest rooms, where you'll be staying." She said. And with a slight grin, the archer followed the knight's lead and hustled by us with a hurried wave and a 'Goodnight'. Gain heaved a sigh and smiled at me

"Well, looks like you're off to Oblivion with us." He said, and he motioned for me to follow him as we headed up a set of stairs to the west of the room. I walked beside him on our way, and asked some questions that had been eating away at my brain

"Gain," I began

"Hmmm?"

"Why did you Laresh and Phoebe come to save me that night?" The mage made a puzzled face and shrugged

"I'm not entirely sure. You see, we three are travelers, Laresh travels from city to city doing tasks for the counts and countesses and guilds. He's constantly closing Oblivion gates and clearing out haunted caves and mines. We were heading towards Camping just outside the Imperial city when Laresh woke us up and told us we needed to get to the Great Woods as quick as possible. So, we traveled towards Chorrol, but he took us off course to your house, and that's when those ghosts attacked you." Well, that was a little better than what Phoenix had told me. We turned down a hallway carpeted in red and headed towards another set of spiraling stairs at the end.

"How old are you all?" This question earned a chuckle from the mage.

"Phoebe is the youngest of us at Twenty-four, I'm going on twenty nine and Laresh is going on Thirty-two." A new question popped into my head as he said this.

"Who is 'Aaron?" I asked suddenly

"Aaron?"

"Laresh mentioned him."

"Ooh. Right. Aaron is the Dark Lord that attacked you that night, Lord Aaron, he's known as. He governs a lot of territory in Oblivion, and he plans to take over this world as well by somehow creating enough Oblivion gates to allow armies to storm the cities. But Laresh keeps on closing the portals before he can assemble his forces and send them through. They've been long time enemies, and Lord Aaron will do anything to rid himself of Laresh."

"Oh." This news somehow startled me. If this 'Lord Aaron' hates Laresh and everything about him, why did he attack my mother and me? I looked to Gain for answers, for he seemed to actually have them

"Why would he attack my home then?" As we climbed the final steps into the last hallway, Gain looked at me with a sympathetic look, but something sparkled in his eyes that told me he was lying.

"I don't know." I opened my mouth to speak again as he said this, but he held up his hand for silence, then waved it in the direction of the end of the new hallway. He guided me to one of the last doors in the hall, and pushed the door open for me.

"Thanks" I said as I stumbled through. I was more tired than I had thought. I began to take of my armor, as the mage began to retreat back into the hall

"I'm in the room directly across from here, if you need anything, don't hesitate to tell me" The door closed with a soft click and I undressed, taking the moment of peace to observe my room. I was nothing special, a marble room with wood floors, a small table beside the single, white-sheet bed and a small window above it. With a sigh, I collapsed into my bed and pulled the covers up to my chin. I tossed and turned for a minute while I got comfy, then closed my eyes and plunged into sleep.

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When I awoke, the rancid tang of burning rubber reached my nose, I scrunched up my face and blindly pulled the covers back overtop of me, as they'd been thrown askew in my sleep. My eyes were still shut tight. Though the rancid stench intended fire, I felt unnaturally chilled. It took me a moment to register that this was somehow wrong, and I opening my eyes to watery slits. My room, which was originally a marble white, had a blood reddish hue, and a black figure stood tall and thin at the side of my bed. I opened my eyes wide and tried to move, but my muscles didn't respond. I found myself pinned, I couldn't open my mouth nor lift a finger, yet the man had not touched me. I could move my head though, and I shifted my gaze to the man. He was tall and adorned in black leather armor, he was wearing no helmet and had raven hair, short and wild. What chilled me were his crimson eyes that painfully reminded me of the night of my mother's death. It took me a moment to register that he might've been Lord Aaron, the man who'd attacked my home. I tried to scream, but failed. Out of the corner of my eye, I could make out a thick red fog that was settled over my covers.

"Don't struggle" Lord Aaron crooned. His voice was crisp and cold, but nothing like Laresh's. The knight's voice was deep and cold, sometimes even monotone, but this man had a voice that sounded mocking and wicked. "I'm not going to hurt you…" I doubted this greatly, and was somehow comforted when he finished his sentence with a 'yet'. I purposely disobeyed and struggled anyway, I tried to twist and squirm, but I found myself bound to place. The man lifted his hand over my forehead and felt a painful draining sensation, that spiraled through my body. I forced my eyes shut and Tried to turn my head, but I found I didn't need to. The sickening pain had stopped. I opened my eyes slowly again, only to find that Aaron was now directly ontop of me, his knees pushing into my ribs and causing me a great deal of pain, but try as I may, I could not scream or fight back. The dark lord was hunched over, and holding my arms out and away from my body with his hands. The lord grinned at me, then slowly lowered his head to my ear, sending shivers down my spine as he spoke.

"I'm coming for you" He paused, then moved one of his hands to my throat and began to strangle me, lifting his head once again to pierce me with his crimson orbs. "You can't hide anywhere." Black spots began to dampen my vision when, to my relief, another voice, warmer but muffled, broke through the pain.

"Carter!" It was Gain, he was pounding on my door. The man vanished in a whirl of smoke, then re-appeared at the side of my bed, I seized the moment to scream. But Aaron simply lifted his hand and forced my mouth shut magically. In my silence, he spoke again.

"I'm coming for you…" He lifted his hand and sliced it through the air, a motion that somehow sent me rolling off my bed and onto the ground. There was a crash at the door and I assumed that Gain may have thrown himself against it, only to find it locked. I pushed myself to my knees and hung my head, still breathing ragged from being strangled. The mean crouched in front of me and gripped my hair tightly in his fingers, jerking my head up.

"You can't escape me, and no one can save you. Give up, I'm coming for you." He repeated. There was another slam at the door and a bright flash, then the dark lord pushed my head down and forced me to sprawl on the ground. He stood tall and erect once again, and vanished in another wisp of smoke, taking the reddish hue that tainted my walls with him. Directly afterwards, my door glowed with a red light and burst off it's hinges to the opposite wall. Gain leapt into the room, his hands clenched into fists, set ablaze.

"Carter? Are you okay?" He cast his gaze around my room, only to find it perfectly restored. I however, was sprawled out on the floor beside my bed, one of the sheets still entangled around my foot. I was drenched in cold sweat. I thought about telling Gain the truth about what had happened, but it suddenly occurred to me that even if he did believe me, I wouldn't be allowed to accompany them to the demon world at all.

"Y-Yeah, I jjust had a bad dream, I guess." I lied, but he didn't seem too suspicious. He scratched his head and lifted my door back into place

"Some dream." He said, as he re-fastened the hinges to the door, magically, of course. He opened and shut the door to test it out, then spun to confront me again " I heard a thump, and a scream coming from your room. Are you sure that was just a dream?" I nodded and struggled to explain

"I was having some sort of Nightmare…I think it was about that night…" I paused, and rubbed my head in thought "I screamed in the dream, because I was about to die, and then I kind of fell out of my bed when I woke up. Sorry to startle you." I said, trying to sound humble. Thankfully, the mage bought it and shrugged

"It's okay," He said, then he opened the door and strode out, calling behind him as he did

"You'll find the baths in the room at the very end of the hallway to your left. Phoenix has arranged your lessons to start in an hour, and breakfast is in half an hour." I shouted my thanks to him then shut the door in his wake. I propped my back against it and slid into a sitting position, drawing a ragged breath, I forced myself to calm down. After a moment or two of silence, I got up and struggled through trying to put my armor on. I'd have to get a bath later, it would take me enough time to try and find the eating hall. Snatching my sword from the wall it was propped up against, I opened my door and stepped outside, taking a last look at my empty room before closing the door behind me and making my way down the hall.

**Ohman! Supsense fer ye? eh? Eh?Eheheheheh? Humum. We shall see. If you review D I like reviews though, I like reviews, hint hint nug-bricked- **

**I won't bore you with that D I'll try to get another chapter up before christmas, then I'll be taking a holiday for a few weeks, but If I get the chance, I will upload a chapter should it be finsihed.**

**Anywho, Review please D**

**Tata**

**Shmeeko**


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